Folding pocketbooks



Jan. 26, 1965 E. s'rlENss ETAL 3,157,106

FOLDING POCKETBOOKS Filed April 12, 1963 United States Patent Ofiice35,167,106 Patented Jan. 26, 1965 3,167,166 FQLDENG PUCKE'EBGGKEE EdwardStienss and Eiizabeth Stienss, both of 247 Webster Ave, .lersey (fity,Nut. Filed Apr. 12., 1963, See. No, 272,725 1 Elaine. 153 m?) Thepresent invention relates to improvements in ladies handbags orpocketbooks or the like and, more specifically, it relates to a bag orpocketbook which can be closed by folding portions thereof in a certainmanner, which will be described hereinafter.

One object of the present invention is provision of a device of thecharacter described which, wien closed, has an attractive, practicalshape, but when opened has a different shape which, however, greatlyfacilitates the access to the interior of the bag, the mouth of the openbag being not obstructed partially by hinges or frame men bets or thelike.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a device ofthe character described which does not require any heavy or mechanicallycomplicated elements for safely closing the bag and for reliably keepingit closed, and which can be opened and closed easily and quickly even bya person wearin gloves, so that our new and improved folding pocketbookis well adapted not only for ornamental purposes and for ordinary useduring warm seasons, but also for use during cold weather, for use byskiers or persons otherwise required to wear gloves.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a deviceof the character described which can be made of leather, fabricmaterial, plastic material, or of any suitable other substance, whichitself is of a very pleasing outer appearance and also has a sufficientsurface space for providing it with decorative designs orornamentations.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of adevice of the character described which has simple closure means thatconsist of only a few inexpensive parts which can be assembled easilyand quickly at low cost, but which also is sturdy, durable and welladapted for the rough usage to which articles of this type ordinarilyare subjected.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, with which will appear asthe description proceeds, the invention consists of certain noveldetails of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fullydescribed and pointed out in the claims, it being understood thatchanges may be made in the construction and arrangements of parts of theembodiment disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the inventionas claimed.

In the accompanying drawing we have set forth an illustration of anembodiment of our invention.

In said drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a preferred embodiment of our inventionas it appears when closed;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the same;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation like FIG. 1, showing one of the closureelements in a position which differs from that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the open pocketbook; and,

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the open pocketbook.

In the drawing the numeral 1 denotes a bag of pliable or foldablematerial consisting of a pair of substantially rectangular or squarepanel members 2 and 3, three edge portions 4, 5 and 7 of which arejoined to each other by means of stitching or plastic welding or pastingor the like, while the top edge portions 10 are left disconnected toform'a mouth that extends over the entire width of the bag 1. Uppercorner portions of the panels 2 and 3 are foldable along folding lines11 and 12 (FIG.

4), so that after said corner portions have been folded upon the panel3, the bag changes its form and shape from that shown in FIG. 4 to thatshown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

While any suitable means can be used for keeping the corner portions inthe folded positions of FIGS. 1 and 3, in which position the bag isclosed, we prefer to carry out this feature of our invention in themanner shown in the drawing, where it will be seen that wire guidemembers l5 and 17 are secured to the disconnected top edge portions iiiof the panel 2, and that a first ring member 2b is slidable in both ofsaid guide members and 17. A hand piece 21, or any other suitable handlemember, is attached to the ring member 20, and the socket portion 22 ofa snap fastener preferably is provided on the hand piece 21 and isadapted for engaging a snap fastener ball portion 23 on the panel 3.

A second ring member 24 also is slidable in both guide members 15 and17, and a carrying strap 25 is secured to the ring member 24.

For closing our new and improved folding pocketbook, all that isnecessary is to fold the upper corner portions of the panels 2 and 3along the lines 11 and 12 from the position shown in FIG. 4 to thatshown in FIG. 3, to pull the member 21 down along the members 15 and 17from the position shown in FIG. 3 to that shown in PEG. 1, and to pressthe snap fastener socket portion 22 upon the ball portion 23. Thereupon,the pocket-book is safely closed and can be carried on the member 25. Inorder to open the pocketbook, the member 21 is pulled, after disengagingthe snap fastener portions 22 and 23, upwards from the position shown inFIG. 1 to that shown in FIG. 3, and the aforementioned corner portionsof the panels 2 and 3 are unfolded, so that they are in the positionshown in FIGS. 4 and 5..

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and differentembodiments of the invention could be made without departing from thescope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the abovedescription or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claim is intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which as amatter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

Having thus fully described our said invention, what we claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent in the United States is:

A device of the character described comprising a pair of panels joinedto each other on lateral and lower edge portions and having upper edgeportions that are disconnected from each other and said panels havingupper corner portions extending from the half-way point of each upperedge portion to the lateral edge portions, a pair of guide membersprovided end to end on the upper edge portion of one of said panels, afirst ring member slidably engaging said guide members being adapted formaintaining the upper corner portions of the panels in position afterthe corner portions have been folded upon one of said panels, fasteningmeans attached to said first ring member and to one of said panels forholding said first ring member in position, a second ring memberengaging said guide members, and a carrying strap attached to saidsecond ring member.

References fitted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS LewisAug. 6, 19 .9

